Navigating Dreamland: Unlocking the Power of Community Appalachia and Stereotypes: Who defines Appalachia? What is that definition? (For us, it’s really about the evolution of a powerful and topical lesson that uses community resources to teach students how to solve their own problems...and still get to the standards)
In other words, how do we go from Duck Dynasty... to
Time Constraints...what’s the bottom line? What do our communities have in common? Maybe it’s the increasing oppression of despair? or The Opioid Crisis? or Tight knit communities with local resources that can deliver hope and help
What we’ve learned as teachers about the unit: We tell our students to be problem-solvers -- show them how it’s done. You can’t have hope unless you have role models. Empowerment is an essential key to having hope. We all are blessed with community resources that will help along the way with the quest -- just jump in that Dreamland pool and start swimming. Your stakeholders want to help and are willing to invest time in your students. Students crave and need to know more about problems that affect their own lives and they want models they can use to solve them. What’s the use of all this learning unless they can put the knowledge to good use? Empowering students changes their attitudes about their studies, their identities, and their communities Students can see themselves as adults. Students are introduced to additional career options. Even for us, it took an outsider’s perspective to help us learn about ourselves. Thank you Sam Quinones and Marty Blank
Brief History of the Project
How we got started We once were an OACHE Roadmap 2005 school Straight A Grant Encouraged a cross curricular unit in 2015 Staff chose Appalachian Culture and History: Who are We? Why? No opportunities to explore this in state driven curriculum and we wanted a chance to teach the value of our own distinct history and culture rather than allow students to absorb the media’s interpretation of us -- the importance of identity
What we should know about ourselves: Look for positive images… Family solidarity Patriotism Religion Individualism, Self-Reliance, Pride Love of place Neighborliness and Hospitality
Focus of Year 1 History: Demographic shifts and economics, Iron Furnace Industry, Coal Wars/Matewan, genealogy Science: Homer Hickam’s Rocket Boys/ October Sky and Moth Man Math : John Nash: Beautiful Mind (Chaos Theory), stats on demographics English: Literature by Appalachian writers (Jesse Stuart, She Walks These Hills, various women writers from Appalachia) Music: Appalachian instruments and songs
Local history librarian helps students do genealogy research in year 1 of the program
Appalachian Music in Year 1! Local musician John Simon and JoAnne Claxon
Result: Interesting and insightful , but we never really hit the mark; something was missing. It was more of an historical perspective. It wasn’t current -- close enough for our students, and it really didn’t address the elephant in the room -- Walmart on the first of the month! We couldn’t reshape or challenge their own assessment of Appalachia without examining the problems that they see daily. And so...more research!
Contemporary Views. -- what our students see It isn’t pretty...or funny…it moves from absurd to truly revolting
Why the sudden interest in Appalachia? Post-election attention Source: http://appvoices.org/2016/ 12/15/trump-energy-coal- appalachia/
https://www.npr.org/2016/12/17/505965420/study-communities-most-affected-by-opioid-epidemic-also-voted-for- trump
Have you seen this image before? It may be THE photo to describe the addiction crisis.
Let the soul searching begin! Hillbilly Elegy --nice memoir, but offers no solutions, only descriptions. Underlying message -- social darwinism lives: If you are poor and struggling it’s your own fault, probably not much hope for you.
Comparison of Traditional Appalachian Culture and Modern Society Modern Modern Traditional Traditional Family and Kin Family and Kin Individualism Individualism Growth Growth Stability Stability Continuity Continuity Change Change Elitism Elitism Egalitarianism Egalitarianism Commonwealth Commonwealth Individual wealth Individual wealth Citizenship Citizenship Political apathy Political apathy
New focus: Appalachian Stereotypes and problems What does it mean to be Appalachian NOW? How do we define ourselves NOW? How does the rest of the country view us NOW? How does that affect our students’ view of themselves NOW? Who are we NOW? What are our challenges NOW?
How do we measure success in modern America? It’s easy to compare cars; it’s not so easy to measure happiness. How is that working for Appalachian Communities? (How is that working for America?) Make America Great Again has a more powerful allure for Appalachia when filtered through this lens.
In summation: These students, like students everywhere, must make links between what they are reading and their own lives; they, too, are concerned about identity formation, their futures, and where they belong in the world. Robert Probst
Dreamland -- Eureka! Described problem and hinted at hopeful solutions ● “Community” -- We began to explore the causes and effects of community. ● Addiction is both a product and a cause of isolation. ● “I’m not an addict. It doesn’t affect me.” Think AGAIN. ● Collateral damage--ourselves, our students, our schools, our community ● Addiction is EVERYONE’S problem (like peeing in the pool ( Dreamland )--it touches everyone!), and once you understand the roots of the problem, it humanizes the solutions.
Thanks for the book s M ar ty!
Instructional framework: Problem based learning
Problem-based Learning Model--based on 21st Century Learning Skills & Habits of Mind Step 1: The Problem (Case Study--reading materials, background, articles, etc.) Step 2: Define the issue (4-6 sentences, identify the problem) Step 3: What do you know? (Identify key words from the case study, list significant parts of the problem, explain what you already know that will help you solve the problem) Step 4: Analyze the case information (determine if based on fact or opinion, infer and explain information that is important to the case solution, but is not explicitly stated in the case)
Problem-based Learning Model (cont’d.) Step 5: Possible Solutions (gather, organize, and interpret information from multiple sources, analyze and explain the multiple perspectives or solutions within this case, generate alternative solutions) Step 6: Research Solution (research the knowledge and data you need to support the solution and fill in missing gaps, investigate and draw conclusions about how the preferred solution impacts the world today, analyze and evaluate alternatives) Step 7: Construct Conclusions (develop a plan/proposal with supporting documentation to convince others of your solution, present your proposal--as a talk, a video, animated video with infographics, etc.)
Problem-based Learning Model (cont’d.) Step 8: Reflection Write a 3-5 paragraph reflection essay including these three parts: 1. Include an introduction where you focus directly on explaining what aspect of your experiences you will discuss in the reflection. 2. The body of the essay should explain how you have changed or what you have learned. Make certain to explain what things caused you to change. 3. In the conclusion of a reflective essay, you should discuss how you have changed and the effect of those changes. You should share how you think the experience will change you in the future.
Step 1: Students researched evidence of the problem from a sterile, statistical analysis
Fatal Drug Overdose U.S. 2002-2014 A 14 year span…….
Have drug overdose deaths increased in Ohio cities in the past several years? -Taylor Rawlins and Em ily Sessor Source: New York Tim es https:/ / www.nytim es.com / interactive/ 20 17/ 0 6 / 0 5/ u pshot/ opioid-epidem ic-drug-overdose-deaths-are- rising-faster-than-ever.htm l?m cubz=0
Scioto County has the highest rate of newborns suffering from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome ( this is more than 8 X higher than the state average ) Source: OhioMHAS Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS; ICD-9 779.5) per 1,000 live births in Ohio by county of patient residence. On average, there were 8.8 discharges for NAS per 1,000 live births statewide between 2009 and 2013. Counties with the highest rates of NAS discharges were Scioto (76.0), Lawrence (66.7) and Pike (57.7).
Unintended consequence of Ohio’s opioid crackdown……. * Heroin and illicit Fentanyl use and deaths increase
OHIO Between 2010-2016 Opioid deaths declined about 60%....... • Offset by enormous increases in Fentanyl, Heroin, and Cocaine-related fatalities +1,350% +119% -60% +100%
R x Heroin Fentany l
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